NATO should finish job in Afghanistan, Putin says

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - NATO forces should stay in Afghanistan until they have finished their job to ensure stability, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, criticizing the planned withdrawal of most combat troops by 2014.

Putin reiterated Kremlin concerns that the pull-out of the U.S.-led alliance, due to start next year, will leave the Central Asian region south of Russia vulnerable to militant violence and drug trafficking.

"It is regrettable that many participants in this operation are thinking about how to pull out of there. They took up this burden and should carry it to the end," Putin said at a meeting with paratroopers in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk.

"If there is no order in Afghanistan it will not be calm on our southern borders. The current (Afghan) leadership will have difficulties keeping the situation under control. NATO member states are present there, and are performing this function," he said.

4. Sounds about right

5. Doesn't apply here.

Putin's not our friend. He's also no friend to Afghanistan. You can push that "overload" button all you want, it doesn't matter. (That was a good one: We said 'reset' in English, and "overburden' in Russian. Or possibly 'burden shifting'.)

And the "bitter fruit" will be more what the Afghans suffer than what we suffered, and the fall out for other Central Asian countries. That includes Russia for this discussion.